Witnesses also said that protesters were setting fire to the homes of some politicians in Kathmandu, and local media reported that some ministers were plucked to safety by military helicopters.
Reuters could not immediately verify the information.
“We are still standing here for our future … We want this country corruption-free so that everyone can easily access education, hospitals, medical (facilities) … and for a bright future,” protester Robin Sreshtha told Reuters TV.
A protester falls down during clashes with riot police in Kathmandu.Credit: AP
Arrival of planes from the southern side at Kathmandu airport, Nepal’s main international gateway, was closed because of poor visibility due to the smoke from fires set by protesters in areas nearby, aviation authority official Gyanendra Bhul said.
Organisers of the protests, which spread to other cities in the Himalayan country, have called them “demonstrations by Gen Z”, driven by young people’s widespread frustration with the government’s perceived lack of action to tackle corruption and boost economic opportunities.
Some of the protesters forced their way into the parliament complex in Kathmandu by breaking through a barricade, a local official said, setting fire to an ambulance and hurling objects at lines of riot police guarding the legislature.
“The police have been firing indiscriminately,” one protester told the ANI news agency. “[They] fired bullets which missed me but hit a friend who was standing behind me. He was hit in the hand.”
More than 100 people, including 28 police personnel, were receiving medical treatment for their injuries, police officer Shekhar Khanal told Reuters. Protesters were ferrying the injured to hospital on motorcycles.
A government decision last week to block access to several social media platforms, including Facebook, has fuelled anger among the young. About 90 per cent of Nepal’s 30 million people use the internet.
Officials said they imposed the ban because platforms had failed to register with authorities in a crackdown on misuse, including false social media accounts used to spread hate speech and fake news, and commit fraud.
Protesters clash with riot police on Monday.Credit: AP
Nepal Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak resigned from the government after taking “moral responsibility” for the violence, another government minister, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak with the media, told Reuters.
International nonprofit organisation Human Rights Watch said the government of Nepal should avoid perceiving these protests primarily through a law-enforcement perspective and recognise that demonstrators’ mass outpourings of criticism reflect deep frustrations throughout Nepal with entrenched corruption, nepotism, and poor governance.
Police had orders to use water cannons, batons and rubber bullets to control the crowd, and the army was deployed in the parliament area to bolster law enforcement officers, Muktiram Rijal, a spokesperson for the Kathmandu district office, told Reuters.
A police officer aims his weapon at protesters on Monday.Credit: AP
Nepal has been politically unstable since it abolished a 239-year-old monarchy in 2008. There have been 14 governments since 2008, not one of which has completed a full five-year term. Oli, 73, was sworn in to his fourth term last year.
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